Rotors&Pads vs Brembo upgrade

[sculptor310]

I have the base GT brakes. Wondering if I should go with lightweight rotors & pads, or just upgrade to the Brembo kit.

Thanks!

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[JohnD]

What are you going to do with the car? If it's just autox or similar then the stock ones might be OK. If it's track days you really need the 6 piston Brembos and racing pads and cooling. IMHO, the hyper expensive 2 piece rotors and racing calipers are not worth the money for track days, Ford's OEM rotors last very well at 1/4 of the cost and the 6 piston Brembos are excellent. It's not racing, you're not even getting a trophy, so why would you want to spend $1200 on rotors that save you a few pounds of weight when you can get good ones for $200 from your friendly Ford dealer, or even less from Rock Auto?

 

[Grafanton]

This...
I recently switched from the 4 piston calipers to the 6 piston Brembos. To be honest, in my application, mostly HPDE, 3 - 5 days a year, the 4 pistons were remarkably adequate in most situations. I experienced brake fade only once, and never again after updating pads and fluid.
That said, the 6 pistons are monsters on my car. I have yet to be able to fully exploit them on the street and honestly have room to improve on the track. The main reason I switched was because after a season, the 4 piston calipers were wasted. I only have 2020 on the 6 piston calipers and I only squeezed in 3 track days this year, but they seem barely used and certainly not abused like the 4 piston would at this point.
When I installed the Brembos I went with PowerStop's Track Day Pads and rotors. The rotors are cheap. About $100 less than the DBA rotors I was buying for the 4 piston calipers, and they are showing significantly less wear than the 4 piston DBA rotors.
I was extremely reluctant to switch to the 6 piston calipers because I run an 18" winter wheel & tire here in Ohio and was afraid I couldn't find or afford rims that would fit over the 6 piston. Now that I've made the switch, I sorta wished I'd have listened to all the people that told me to make the switch sooner. Of all the expensive mods I've made to my car to make it fast and last, this has been one of the most effective and cost effective.

 

[GEBRONI]

I do not understand how the 18in does not fit brembos when the continental 4 piston is bigger. I just bought the m2300v kit and will be installing soon ;-)

 

[XeninWorX]

I do not understand how the 18in does not fit brembos when the continental 4 piston is bigger. I just bought the m2300v kit and will be installing soon ;-)

The 6 piston looks taller because of the pin holder at the top and uses a larger rotor than the 4 piston. Barrel clearance would be the issue.

 

[GEBRONI]

The 6 piston looks taller because of the pin holder at the top and uses a larger rotor than the 4 piston. Barrel clearance would be the issue.

I still have my 18in wheels after getting MRR M350 19x10... I will test fit the 18's after install and report back... Yes 1 inch larger rotor but that is half an inch to barrel and to me it all looks like it would clear...

 

[Grafanton]

This is my 18" wheel with a 1" spacer installed.
It still looks extremely tight, but extremely tight is not touching so I'm going with it.
These were the cheapest rims that Tire Rack sold as a winter wheel and tire package. At the time of purchase I didn't see any problem going forward. Then the track bug hit...and well...

 

[GEBRONI]

This is my 18" wheel with a 1" spacer installed.
It still looks extremely tight, but extremely tight is not touching so I'm going with it.
These were the cheapest rims that Tire Rack sold as a winter wheel and tire package. At the time of purchase I didn't see any problem going forward. Then the track bug hit...and well...

Yeah that is super tight! Will try the same with OEM 18x8... I just need to get all the stuff for install... Mostly the high pressure bleeder ;-)

 

[GEBRONI]

BTW the stock 15in front rotor is insanely heavy LOL ridiculous!

 

[sculptor310]

I was worried about upgrading to a heavier rotor.

 

[Grafanton]

Some clear plastic tubing from Home Depot and a Gatorade bottle (just my favorite, not required) work just as well as the pressure bleeder, even by yourself.
The upgrade to the 6 piston was super simple. I replaced the wheel hubs at the same time. It was basically the hub nut, 2 caliper bolts and the brake line and the whole thing, caliper and rotor, slid off as an assembly. Slicker than snot on a doorknob. Also, in the future, pad changes on the 6 pistons is much easier. That stupid spring clip on the back of the 4 piston caliper I found to be a complete nightmare to reinstall quickly.

 

[bnightstar]

For base to Brembo you need the PP master cylinder as well. Based on Vorshlag blog on the same topic.

 

[Grafanton]

I did not need the PP master cylinder. Works just fine.
There may be a minute difference between the to, but to my experience, I can't tell if there is any greater effort with the non-PP master cylinder.

 

[EFI]

For base to Brembo you need the PP master cylinder as well. Based on Vorshlag blog on the same topic.

That's questionable, and could very well be the fact that they left air in the brake lines.

Plenty of others have done it without issues or performance loss.

OP, if you are just doing a casual track day the stock brakes are fine. If you want utmost braking performance and gain valuable seconds on lap times, then the PP brakes are worth it.

 

[bnightstar]

That's questionable, and could very well be the fact that they left air in the brake lines.

Plenty of others have done it without issues or performance loss.

А lot of people warned them before they do the test and the master cylineder made different results in the following test. If it wasn't needed ford wouldn't have made different part for it.

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